Casing for electric switches.



J. F. McELROY| DEC'D.

& H.HcELIOY.EXECUTRIX CASING FOR ELECTRIC SWITCHES. APPLICATION IILIDAUG-29.191l.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHIN 1.

TNESSED wil (/2 2?. XXXWM J. F. McELROY. DECD.

s. u. munov. EXECUTRIX. CASING FOR ELECTRIC SWITCHES. APPLICATION mwAUG-29. ml.

1,207,956. Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHET 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR W AT'ZY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES I. MOELEOY, OE ALBANY,

NEW YORK; SUSIE H. McELROY, EXECUTRIX OF SAID JAMES 1'. MOELBOY,DECEASED, ASSIGNOB TO CONSOLIDATED CAR-HEATING COM- PANY, A CORPORATIONOF WEST VIRGINIA.

CASING FOR ELECTRIC SWITCHES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, James F. MCELROY, acitizen of the United States, residin at Albany, county of Albany, Stateof ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casingsfor Electric Switches, the following being a full, clear, and exactdisclosure of the one form of my irgvention which I at present deemprefera le.

For a detailed description of the present form of my invention,reference may be had to the following specification and to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention.

Figuresl and2re resent the invention as a partition-switch, ig. 1 beinga front view thereof with the casing in section and Fig. 2 a verticalsection through the partition; Figs. 3, 4 and 5 represent the inventionarranged as a wall-switch, Fig. 3 being a front view thereof with thecasing in section, Fig. 4 a vertical section, and Fig. 5 a bottomelevation thereof.

The present invention relates specifically to switches of the ush-buttontype, desi ed particularly for e ectric circuits contro ling the doormotors of a railway car. The switch is, for this purpose, located at theend of the car so as to be conveniently operated by the motorman on thecar platform. I have shown the invention arranged as a partition-switchalong the lines of the partition-switch shown In my pending applicationfor patent Ser. No. 648,57 6, filed Au st 11, 1911, this being the formin whlch the same is now being used on the Pennsylvania railway. I havealso shown the invention arranged as a wall-switch, this being the formin which it is now used on the elevated railwa present application I 0not intend to make claim to the particular features which pertain to itspartition-switch form since such features constitute the subject matterof my aforesaid application Ser. No. 643 576, but the pres ntapplication is directed specifically to the wall form of switch,although the broader features herein claimed are applicable to bothforms.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A represents the end wall of acar, or other apartment, which, in this instance, serves as s at Boston.In the a partition between the different portions of the switch which islocated in an opening in the said wall, being operated from a pointforward of the said wall, but accessible from the rear of the wall whereit is provided with the usual cover, and provided also with an openingto receive the conduit containing the leading-in wires. The casing ofthe switch is indicated generally at B and it is arranged to contain aplurality of pushbutton switches. It is seated in an opening in the wallA, being provided with seating flanges b which are screwed to the wall.On the forward or operating side the casing B is provided with anoverhanging hood I) and also with an outer wall I) separated a slightdistance from the main wall of the casing. The said hood andsupplementary wall afi'ord protection against the entrance of water intothe casing through the button holes and afford a drip device for theremoval of any water which may come against the switch casing in itsexposed position. The supplementary wall I) also afi'ords an extrabearing for the push-buttons C which pass through openings in both themain and the supplementary walls. Each push-button is provided with anenlarged end inside the case, in which end is molded a small steelwearin plate 0. This steel plate bears upon one en of the copper bolt Dwhich passes through a tubular uide D seated on the insulating base E.urrounding the tubular guide is a helical spring D one end of which isseated upon the bottom flange of the guide while the other bears againsta copper disk D inserted under the head of the bolt D. The disk D servesas the movable contact-member of the switch and is loosely mounted onthe bolt D and will thereby rotate on the bolt D so that a fresh contactsurface may be presented from time to time to the stationary contactmembers. The stationary contact members are the metal posts D secured tothe insulating base E and provided with bindin screws on the rear sideof the said base or establishing connection with the leading-in wires.One contact post D serves as a common contact for all of the four disksD of the four respective switches contained in the casing, and for thispurpose it is located centrally with respect to these four disks D, sothat (ill sition,

each disk can make contact therewith. The individual contact posts D ofthe respective switches are located under the outer edges of therespective disks D and nearly opp oclosing the circuit between the twoposts.

The insulating base E is located approximately midway of the casing Band divides the easing into front and back compartments, the switchmembers being mounted on the said base in the forward part of thecasing. The rear portion of the casing extends through the partition Aand on the rear side of said partition it is provided with a detachablecover B which is separated .3 from the base E a sufficient distance toform a junction-box in rear of the said base E. The casing is alsoprovided, in rear of the artition, with an openin for the conduit 3which carries the lea ing-in wires, the outer edge of this opening beingclosed when the detachable cover 13 is applied to the rear side of thecasing.

In assembling my device the rear cover B being removed, the'push-buttonsC, will first be passed through the openings providedfor them in thefront wall of the casing and the supplementary wall 6. Then theinsulating'base E with the switch members mounted thereon will be placedin p0 the heads of the bolts D- bearing upon the steel plates 0 of theash-button and the base will then be secure to its seating flangeswithin the casing. Applying my switch to the partition-wall A, the frontor forward section of the casing will be passed through'the partitionfrom the rear until the seating flanges b bear against the rear side ofthe wall and are secured thereto by screws. Then the conduit Btwith theleading-in wires projecting from its upper end will be placed inposition in the opening or notch formed for its reception in the rearend of the casing. The leading-in wires will then be attached to theseveral contact posts D and, after the switch has been tested,the rearcover plate 13 will be applied and will serve at the same time to closethe casing and o retain in place the conduit B.

Turning to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be readily understood that thepush-buttons C and the internal arrangements within the casing are thesame as those shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The casing itself is, however,arranged somewhat differently. The hood portion I) is formed as aseparate casting external supplemental wall spaced from said which willbe independently secured to the wall against which the switch is to beapplied, and will be the part which is first secured to the wall. Thecasing itself is formed, as in theprevious case, of two parts orsections, to-wit, the rear part B which in this instance is seated uponand secured to the wall after the hood portion b is in place, and theforward part B which is hinged to the part B by the hinge F. Theinsulating base E" which carries the switch members is mounted upon andsecured to the forward part of the casing 13 in the manner heretoforedescribed. The part 13, together with the base E and switch membersassembled thcrewitlawill then be placed in position upon the part B andsecured thereto by the rivet at the hinge F. This permits the saidportion B and the parts mounted thereon to swing forward on the hinge Fto permit the attachment of the portion B upon the wall or for theconnection of the leading-in wires to the contact parts D which wiresenter the casing from the conduit B which is passed throu h a tubularopening in the'lower portion oi the part B. The curve of the hood I) isso shaped as to permit the above-mentioned sw irnging of the portionBupon its hinge F.

he and 2 contains only four push button switches, whereas the form shownin Figs. 3, 4 and 5 contains six. In the former case the fourpush-buttons will control the middle door and one end door on one sideof a railway car, two of the buttons being pushed to open the doors, andthe other two to close them, only a momentary contact being required toset the doors in motion. Obviously either referred to can be operated,and, in case both doors are operated,-they can be opened or closedsimultaneously, since the two buttons involved in the operation are soclose together that the operator can push both of them at once. In thearrangement which contains six buttons, three of them will serve for theopening, and the other three for the closing of each and all of thethree doors on one side of the car, to-wit, the central door and the twoend doors. In this case also the doors may be operated individually ortogether and, if desired, simultaneously.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A switch casing having a coverand an cover and parallel therewith,said cover and said wall being provided with alined openings formingpush button guiding means.

2. A switch casing having a cover and an external supplemental wallspaced from said cover and parallel therewith, said cover and said wallbeing provided with alined open- 1.;

form of my device shown in Figs. 1

one or both of the two doors ings forming push button guiding means, anda hood overhanging the. external wall and the push button openings.

3. A switch casing having a cover and an external supplemental wallspaced from said cover and parallel therewith, said cover and said wallbeing provided with alined openings formin push button guiding means,and a separa 1e hood overhanging said cover and said external wall.

4. A switch casing formed of stationary and movable members hingedtogether, said members having means for clampingm conduit for theleading-in wire, and a ase secured to the movable member and pro videdwith means for supporting stationary and movable switch mem rs.

5. A switch casing formed of stationary and movable members hingedtogether, and a base secured to the movable member and provided withmeans for supporting stationary and movable switch members, one of saidswitch members having main and su plemental walls, the latter serving asa shie d r for the former.

6. A switch casing formed of stationary and movable members hingedtogether, and a base secured to the movable member and provided withmeans for supporting stationary and movable switch members, and a hoodoverhanging the movable section.

7. An electric switch comprisin a casing having separable front and bacsections, said sections being provided with means for wires,

clamping a wire conduit between them, one of the sections being fixedand the other section being movable, a base attached to the frontsection and dividing the casing into two compartments and provided withmeans for supporting stationary and movable contacts.

8. An electric switch having front and rear casing sections, one fixedand one movable, said sections being provided with means to clamp aconduit for the leading-in an insulating base carried by the frontsection and dividing the casing into front and rear compartments, saidbase being provided with means for supporting stationary and movableswitch members in the front section, and the wall of said front sectionbeingxprovided with means for supporting switc operating mechanism.

An electric switch comprising a casing having a front wall and asupplementary shielding wall spaced from the front wall, the spacebetween said walls being open at the bottom, said walls bein providedwith alined guide openin s, and a hood overhanging the wall an theswitch operating means.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, before two subscribingwitnesses, this 26th day of August, 1911.

JAMES F. MoELROY.

Witnesses:

HERBERT A. OALKINB, CLARENCE PALMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of ll'stents, Washington, D. 0."

